Hydrodynamic and flow noise characteristics of porous material propellers

As one of the main noise sources in naval equipment, propeller flow noise plays a crucial role in the overall enhancement of the acoustic performance of naval vessels. Effective control of propeller flow noise is, therefore, significant. After years of development, porous materials, as a type of spatial microstructure, have demonstrated significant potential in flow noise control. It has been widely applied in various areas, including naval and marine engineering. This study approaches the issue from the perspective of regulating fluid states. Using the DTMB4119 propeller as a prototype, porous material was applied to the vortices shedding region of propeller blade tips. Through the CFD (computational fluid dynamics)/CAA (computational aero acoustics) hybrid simulation method, the hydrodynamic and flow noise characteristics of a porous material propeller were investigated. The results indicate that the porous material effectively controls flow noise almost across the entire computational frequency range. Additionally, a mapping relationship between the area of porous material region on blades and the propeller flow noise was established, allowing for optimized design of the porous material area on the blades.